Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris views their final match of the season as "a final" as they significantly boosted their hopes of qualifying for Europe with a 3-1 win over Everton.

The Black Cats struggled to create chances in the first half and went behind through a deflected effort from Merlin Rohl, with the German scoring his first goal for the Merseyside outfit.

However, they hit back in the second half as the visitors equalised just before the hour mark, with Brian Brobbey scoring his seventh league goal of the season, the most by a Sunderland player in their debut season in the top-flight since Fabio Borini in 2012-13.

Enzo Le Fee then scored in the 80th minute to put the visitors in front, and Wilson Isidor made sure of the points in stoppage time, with Sunderland ending a five-match winless run to move up to ninth in the table.

They are one point behind eighth-placed Brentford, who occupy the final European spot, and a win over Chelsea in their final match of the season, if other results go their way, could see Sunderland appear in a major European competition for the first time since 1973-74.

Le Bris is aware of the enormity of the fixture ahead, and he wants his players to be ready for the occasion.

When asked what he wanted from his squad, he said to BBC Sport: "Consistency, standards and [to be] ready to be competitive.

"You have to manage the expected and also the unexpected.

"If you are ready and prepare well, you give yourself the best chance to be successful."

The Frenchman also knows he can count on the club's supporters to give his side the final push that they require as they look to cap off an incredible first season back in the Premier League.

He said: "We are becoming ambitious. Now it's just a final, and we'll see.

"Our fans were loud, so I imagine they will be louder next week. They deserve it; they are always really supportive.

"We have highs and lows, and they were still behind us. I hope that we can enjoy the last fixture at home."

Everton boss David Moyes, meanwhile, could not hide his disappointment as their hopes of European football were all but extinguished following a home defeat.

The Toffees have failed to win across any of their last six matches (D3 L3), their worst run of form in the Premier League since a run of 13 between December 2023 and April 2024 under Sean Dyche.

Everton have amassed fewer points in their first season at the Hill Dickinson Stadium than they managed in their final season at Goodison Park, and the Scotsman expressed disappointment that their performances were not reflected with better results at home.

"We've not got over the line over the past five games," Moyes told BBC Sport.

"There's been a lot of good stuff. But it shows if you're not quite at it, you're not going to win, so we need to try and improve it because our recent results haven't been good enough.

"Our performances haven't been that bad, but our points total is not good enough."